League expects $3M gate from Ducks-Kings in London, and will look to Europe for more

The NHL’s games
last weekend in London were set to deliver $3 million in gate revenue and mark
a renewal of the league’s international efforts, which had languished since
before the 2004-05 lockout.

League officials
hope the games are the first in an annual series of overseas events in Western
Europe. The games, scheduled to be played Sept. 29 and 30 in London between the
Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, were sold out and more than 34,600 were
expected to attend.

Officials
believe consistent international appearances will provide a unique league asset
that sponsors can activate around in the same way as the “Ice Bowl,” an outdoor
game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres to be played in Buffalo
on Jan. 1.

The league sees
the European market as its second-biggest growth opportunity behind new media
initiatives. Its Web site already receives heavy international traffic from
Europeans in Sweden and Finland who follow players from those countries now
playing in the NHL.

“With the
lockout behind us, we’re ready to relaunch an integrated international
strategy,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. “There’s a great opportunity
to grow revenue by growing our business in Europe and capitalizing on our fan
base internationally.”

The league last
made an effort to expose its product overseas in the late 1990s when it opened
its season with games in Tokyo. That international push continued with a series
called the NHL Challenge in Europe, which featured three NHL teams playing
exhibition games against Swedish and Finnish teams.

But the series
ended in 2003 and the league did not bring its live product overseas again until
last weekend.

Those games
signified a strategic shift in the league’s efforts to broaden its exposure
abroad. Rather than focus on Europe and Asia, it narrowed its focus to Western
Europe, which is closer to the league’s core European fan base. The region’s
economics also are similar enough to North America that the NHL can charge the
same prices for games there as in the U.S.

Other
opportunities may emerge in the future, as well. The league remains in talks
with the International Ice Hockey Federation about the creation of the Victoria
Cup, an international competition featuring NHL clubs and champions from
European leagues. It also is considering international games in countries
outside the United Kingdom.

“If we build
those properties and those league assets out, we believe sponsorship and
licensing will grow,” Daly said.